Jan. 18 (Xinhua) — After more than three hours of effort, Chen, who successfully underwent interventional surgery in the hospital’s cerebral angiography room, was given a new lease of life. Chen’s condition is dangerous and complex, the two vertebral arteries supplying the life center – brainstem are severely lesioned, the right vertebral artery intracranial segment blockage, the left vertebral artery intracranial segment 99% stenosis. As a rule, doctors usually choose the less risky left side for surgery, after all, the presence of one vertebral artery can bring good results for the patient. However, during the first interventional procedure, the experienced chief neurosurgeon, Dr. Jieqing Wan, discovered a hidden problem: the stenotic plaque of the patient’s left vertebral artery had also involved a neighboring branch vessel, called the posterior inferior cerebellar artery, which is the most important branch vessel on the vertebral artery, and once occluded, the patient would most likely be dependent on a ventilator for life, unable to speak or eat. The patient was unsuccessful in many attempts and had no choice but to give up stenting of the left vertebral artery. At this point, there are only two choices in front of the patient and the doctor: 1) to receive medication and expect a miracle, but of course more likely to be the end of life in the near future; 2) to let go and try to open the right vertebral artery, there is still a chance to live in good health. Neurosurgery has done nearly 50 cases of carotid artery and middle cerebral artery occlusion opening so far, but after all, there are many uncontrollable factors, and this is still a surgery near the center of life, like a dance on the tip of a knife, the slightest carelessness is the price of life. After 2 days of deliberation, the patient’s family made the difficult decision to perform a right vertebral artery opening. The surgery started at 10:00 a.m. The catheter was put in place but a new situation was discovered. The distance of the occluded vessel was shortened compared to the last angiogram, which was good news, but a new problem followed. The lumen of this changed vessel was filled with thrombus, and once the occluded vessel was opened the thrombus staying in the lumen would roll away with the blood flow and threaten the distal vessel like a wild horse off the leash. In other words, the difficulty of opening the vessel is reduced, but the new difficulty of handling the thrombus is increased. The thrombus was quickly cleaned up due to adequate preparation and a two-pronged approach of mechanical extraction and pharmacological thrombolysis. After the stent was released, the distal vessel blossomed on the screen like a firework, which filled everyone’s heart with joy at this moment. After spending the last few days of 2012 in the hospital, 59-year-old Chen welcomed his second life on January 4, 2013. He had been bedridden since the onset of the disease on December 2, and after just one month, he was finally able to take an important step in his life with the help of his family.